Greta Thunberg detained in Israeli detention center with migrants, to face trial with ‘freedom flotilla’ activists, says her legal representative following Sweden’s refusal

Greta Thunberg is being held in an Israeli prison for migrants after troops intercepted the ‘freedom flotilla’, according to the activist’s lawyer.

Thunberg, alongside the 11 other activists on board, is also expected to appear in court later on this morning after they were taken to the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

‘We demand information about the whereabouts of our clients and the right to meet them,’ lawyer Nariman Shehade Zoabi told Expressen. 

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which organised the voyage from Italy to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, said in the early hours of Monday that the ship had come ‘under assault’ in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Madleen was said to have been shadowed by speedboats and drones before ‘quadcopters’ surrounded and sprayed the ship with an unidentified ‘white irritant substance’, shortly before the IDF seized it.

Israeli commandos took over the vessel and arrested the activists, before taking them to Ashdod, in southern Israel.

But on Monday, their lawyers claimed they had not received any information about their clients’ whereabouts. 

‘Based on previous experiences, Greta Thunberg and the others will be taken to Givon prison near the town of Ramle.

‘There, what are called illegal immigrants are detained and there is a court that can quickly decide on deportation,’ Zoabi, from the human rights organisation, Adala, added. 

She is waiting in Ashdod alongside five others, three of whom are lawyers,  and explained the deportation process could be quick.

‘Israel has no interest in detaining them and they themselves do not want to stay in the country’, she said.

But until they are deported, the activists will be detained in Givon Prison.  

It comes after Sweden rejected Thunberg’s plea for help on board the vessel after Israeli troops stopped the ship. 

Maria Malmer Stenergard, the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Monday that she believes Thunberg is not in need of support from the ministry after the climate activist called on followers to pressure the government into action.

‘A great responsibility rests on those who choose to travel contrary to the advice given to a place,’ she said outside the Swedish parliament, as protestors gathered in Stockholm to demand an intervention.

The minister lamented that, as a result of Greta’s plea, the consular hotline had received a high volume of calls that meant Swedes ‘in need’ abroad were being held in long queues for assistance.

‘It is quite dangerous to run a campaign that means that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ consular hotline is called down,’ she said, adding: ‘The consequence is that Swedes in need abroad have to wait in line for far too long.’

Stenergard suggested she did not believe Thunberg needed help, but assured: ‘If she needs consular support, we will do everything we can, just as we do with all Swedish citizens.’

Critics suggested it was a ‘gap-year protest’, and the Israeli government said Ms Thunberg had been ‘feeding her ego’ rather than the people of Gaza. 

The whole thing was always designed to be – and might yet be seen to be – a publicity coup for Ms Thunberg and the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) group of campaigners determined to draw attention to the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza where children have been starving to death. 

Israel had claimed that all passengers on board the charity vessel are ‘safe and unharmed’. 

Protestors have called on the governments of the 12 crew members to act after the activists claimed to have been ‘intercepted and kidnapped’ in international waters some 100 miles from the coast of Gaza.

In London, demonstrators gathered outside the FCDO offices in Whitehall to call on the country to protect the crew of the British-flagged ship. One held a sign that read: ‘Israel attacks UK boat. UK does nothing.’

Images emerged last night, showing the deck of the charity vessel splattered with white liquid. Activist Yasmin Acar, among those on board, said it had been deployed by Israel and was affecting her eyes.

‘Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio,’ the coalition wrote on Telegram.

Huwaida Arraf, the co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, told Al Jazeera that crew members had said their eyes were burning from the substance.

‘We don’t know what that chemical was. Some people reported that their eyes were burning,’ they said. 

Israel ‘forcibly intercepted’ the vessel at 3.02am local time on Monday, the FFC said in a statement. 

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz argued the blockade – in place for years – was needed to prevent militants importing weapons into Gaza.

He congratulated the military on its ‘quick and safe takeover’ of the ship.

After diverting the boat, Israel’s foreign ministry posted a picture of the activists all in orange life jackets being offered water and sandwiches. 

Katz said that the crew were safe and unharmed, and would be taken to the Israeli Port of Ashdod where they would be shown a video of Hamas’s October 7 atrocities.

In comments shared on social media yesterday, Katz said it was ‘appropriate’ the crew now see ‘what atrocities [Hamas] committed against women, the elderly and children, and against whom Israel is fighting to defend itself’.

The video of Hamas’ attacks reportedly contains 43 minutes of ‘uncensored’ footage of ‘people being massacred and bodies mutilated during the onslaught’, according to the Times of Israel.

The Israeli foreign ministry also derided what it called the ‘selfie yacht’ carrying ‘celebrity’ activists, adding that the aid onboard would be transferred to Gaza through what it called ‘real humanitarian channels’. 

The 12 activists had left Italy on June 1, aiming to bring awareness of food shortages in Gaza, which the UN has called the ‘hungriest place on Earth’, after 21 months of war.

The UN has warned the territory’s entire population is at risk of famine. 

But the Israeli government had vowed to prevent the ‘unauthorised’ Madleen from breaching the naval blockade of Gaza, urging it to turn back.

After losing communication with the vessel, the FFC posted pre-recorded videos from the crew.

In her video, Thunberg said: ‘If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel.’ 

The FFC said that Israel had acted with ‘total impunity’.

It said that the cargo, containing baby formula, food and medical supplies, had been ‘confiscated’. 

The Israelis denounced Ms Thunberg’s cynical ‘Instagram selfie’ aid mission and said the ‘tiny amount of aid’ on board the ‘celebrity’ vessel would be transferred to Gaza through ‘real humanitarian channels’. 

The foreign ministry stressed that all crew members were ‘safe and unharmed’. It said that it expected the activists to return to their home countries.

Arraf, a human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organiser, pushed back: ‘Israel has no legal authority to detain international volunteers aboard the Madleen.’

‘This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the (International Court of Justice’s) binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.’

Israel has come under criticism for apprehending the group of activists in international waters.

Francesca Albanese, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said the British government must ‘urgently seek full clarification’ about the ship’s status and work to ‘secure the immediate release’ of the vessel and crew.

‘The Madleen must be allowed to continue its lawful humanitarian mission to Gaza,’ she said. 

MailOnline approached the Foreign Office for comment. 

Protestors amassed outside the FCDO offices in London on Monday. One held a sign that read: ‘Israel attacks UK boat. UK does nothing.’

Ellie Chowns, Green Party Foreign Affairs spokeswoman and MP for North Herefordshire, said: ‘The UK Government cannot remain silent while international waters are turned into a battleground and humanitarian actors are criminalised.

‘The forced interception of the Madleen, a British-flagged vessel, is utterly unacceptable. Unarmed civilian crew were seized by Israeli military forces while sailing in international waters, their life-saving cargo taken, and international law trampled.

‘I echo the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s demands: the immediate release of these civilians, unfettered delivery of vital baby formula, food and medical supplies to Gaza, and full accountability for these flagrant violations.’

Critics have branded the interception ‘state piracy’ and condemned the lack of action from the crew members’ respective governments.

Mouin Rabbani, a non-resident fellow at the Qatar-based Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, told Al Jazeera: ‘This is not only an act of state piracy. It’s in direct violation of the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice.’

Spain summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires in protest of the interception, according to El Pais, citing a source at the Spanish Foreign Ministry.

French Foreign Minister Jeal-Noel Barrot said France wants to ‘facilitate the rapid return’ of six French nationals travelling with the group. 

Turkey slammed Israel for the interception, describing it as a ‘heinous attack’.

‘The intervention by Israeli forces on the ‘Madleen’ ship.. while sailing in international waters is a clear violation of international law,’ it said, describing it as a ‘heinous attack’ by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Turkey’s foreign ministry said there were Turkish nationals among those on board, without identifying them. The Freedom Flotilla’s website said the boat was carrying 12 people from seven countries, including Turkey. 

‘The international community’s justified reaction to Israel’s genocidal policies, which use hunger as a weapon in Gaza and prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid, will continue,’ the ministry added, saying Israel would manage to ‘silence the voices defending human values’. 

Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.

It recently allowed humanitarian deliveries to resume after barring them for more than two months and began working with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

But humanitarian agencies have criticised the GHF and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.

Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.

It said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.